Renewed optimism in the future of UK Life Sciences

Thursday, 11 February 2010 17:00

myM-link, has polled its members in the latest of a series of surveys to understand their level of optimism given the current economic conditions.

The results have proven to be the most positive since the quarterly survey began in March '09 with more businesses now looking to recruit and grow their market share.

Reflecting a renewed outlook in the future of UK life sciences, the results highlight a sharp rise to 77% of businesses viewing the next three months with positive optimism, with this figure rising to a healthy 88% when they were asked to consider the next six months.

Of those questioned the most optimistic view was presented by companies working in the commercial market across international territories – a possible consequence of the weakness of the pound driving exports.

Key results included:

  • Nearly half of firms (44%) are actively seeking new recruits, almost double the number from July '09
  • When asked if they expected their market to grow in the next 12 months, nearly half said they did and the figure jumped to 66% when asked for their growth predictions over the next five years.
  • Encouragingly, 88% of businesses surveyed expected to grow their market share over the next six months.
  • Just 11% of businesses are looking to reduce their headcount, which compares favourably with the 25% looking to cut numbers back in March '09
  • When asked what more could be done to improve trading conditions in the market, the top three answers given were:
    - Buyers should be encouraged to source products from UK & EU whenever possible
    - Access to R&D grants/credits should be made simpler
    - UK Government should offer greater assistance to UK firms to attend overseas shows.

Interestingly there was general agreement that access to finance had changed little, compared to 12 months ago, with only 11% of firms finding it more difficult to obtain.

Commenting on the results, myM-link manager Sue Wilde says:
"The overall conclusion that should be drawn form the survey is that trading conditions in the sector are becoming easier and businesses are feeling genuinely more optimistic about the future than they were in July '09. The next survey may follow a change of government so this might prove the most fascinating survey to date, acting as a very interesting barometer of the sectors interpretation of the new government's intentions for Life Sciences in the UK – watch this space."
 

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